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Yelp Founder Says "No Extortion — Just a Misunderstood Algorithm"

Early last year, a story in the East Bay Express reported that review site Yelp's ad sales force was using hardball tactics that amount to extortion — essentially, suggesting that negative reviews would remain prominent on the Yelp page for a particular restaurant or other business, unless the business bought advertising through Yelp, in which case Yelp could "do something" about the negative reviews. In a recent interview with the New York Times (the questions seem rather softball, but they do address this issue), Yelp co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman says it just isn't so, and blames unhappiness by business owners with the review site on the site's "automated and algorithmic" review-filtering system, which he describes as "counterintuitive." Stoppelman also says that Yelp's advertising salesmen have no connection to that filtering system, which doesn't quite answer the question of whether the salesmen claimed to be able to influence the reviews displayed, as some business owners allege. Updated 22:09 GMT by timothy: As reader AKMask points out below (now corrected above), that's the East Bay Express, rather than the East Bay Examiner.

2 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's New York !! by Gruff1002 · · Score: 0, Troll

    No kidding - I mean, killing a million Iraqis for no reason is one thing, but letting a NIGGER run the show? And then giving MOAR NIGGERS health care? WTF?

    Mod troll, can't even spell right LOL

  2. Re:A Misunderstanding? by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 0, Troll

    I expect a more nuanced response to his denial

    you have perhaps put a rash need to appear witty above the more significant issue

    It looks like you're not satisfied what he or I had to say about this matter. I think it's a safe assumption that none of the three of us probably gives a crap what the others think or say.

    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?

    I'm heading off to the next story. I hear there's some China bashing going on. Meet you there.